psa: Hello.

This is a very important PSA that I promise will change your daily routine forever. Hello dental products are my new favorite thing in life.

I received two toothpastes, breath freshening spray, and a toothbrush in my #VoxBox from influenster last month and I couldn't be happier. I waited awhile to post anything on it because I wanted to get a real feel for how the toothpaste was in the long run. I can honestly say after a few weeks of consistent use, I'm never using anything else. 

The texture is a little creamier than most toothpastes, and it took a couple times to get used to that. It's made with no preservatives, artificial sweeteners, triclosan or dyes - and I can actually tell. I'm usually the last one to notice the taste of artificial sweeteners, but I notice that this tastes different because it doesn't have any artificial sweeteners. Awesome, right?

I'm using mojito mint currently! (Yay Target prices too, haha)

While the toothpaste keeps my breath fresh almost all day long, sometimes I eat onions (not raw) or drink too much coffee (not black) and need to freshen up a bit. That's where the spray comes in - LOVE. One quick spray (two if you're particularly garlicky) and you're done. Magically fresh and delicious. 

So glad influenster and Hello let me try their products. I'm never going back, thanks guys! #choosefriendly

Golden Globes

My favorite season is the one between winter and spring.  It's called award season.  It lasts only a few months, but it is the most glorious time of the year.  During every show, I'm either furiously tweeting, shushing the person next to me, squealing with glee, or getting very upset with various upsets.  I would love to be a correspondent on the red carpet, reporting on the award shows, or even one day produce the broadcast.  My undergrad thesis was about award shows (and other things but still).  There's the introduction.  I love award shows.

Anyways. I watched the Golden Globes last night with Nathan and definitely had mixed emotions throughout.  Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting for the second time was phenomenal, as was expected, and I'm so excited for their third round next year.  Their opening monologue was great, as were all their other bits.  The "there's a special place in hell for you" comment Tina made when Amy won her award was a subtle reference to last year's TSwift debacle.  I, for one, found it hilarious.

Jennifer Lawrence and Jacqueline Bisset won the first two awards and gave two very different speeches (Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy/Musical for American Hustle and Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television for Dancing on the Edge, respectively).  Lawrence was gracious and shocked, as per her award speeches, and shared an anecdote about her experience with David O. Russell.  Russell directed Lawrence in her previous film, Silver Linings Playbook (which I loved), and the one she is currently gaining accolades for, American Hustle.  As usual, I was smiling when she finished.  Bisset followed and it was, as many have already pointed out, extremely awkward.  It took her a lengthy amount of time to get to the stage, though her double-back to Jon Voigt was adorable and made my heart squeal.  When she finally did, she was in complete awe of her award and it showed in her scattered acceptance.

To be honest, I found Bisset refreshing.  I know it's the unpopular opinion, but it is refreshing to see celebrities as real people.  Yes, she was up there in a gown that could probably pay for my college education, at an event that is wonderfully and abhorrently frivolous, but she was bumbling and stumbling and showing complete and utter shock.  Real shock, real graciousness.  It was beautiful.

Amy Adams, Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for American Hustle, talking over the cut-off music, delivered my favorite line of the night.  She said she wouldn't be stopped from talking about her daughter and that her daughter has taught her to "accept joy and let go of fear".  It's really had me thinking lately, and it is definitely something that will stick with me.

There were notable awards that I loved: Jon Voigt, winning Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television for Ray Donovan, Andy Samberg winning Best Actor in a Television Series Comedy or Musical, Amy Poehler winning Best Actress in a Television Series Comedy or Musical, and their were upsets that upset me that I won't take the time to rant about.  But I do need to see Dallas Buyers Club because apparently it's better than anyone guessed (ahem).

Aside from the awards, there is the fashion of course.  Aubrey Plaza won my heart for favorite look, but you can find almost every look here.

Huffington Post hated her look, but apparently I'm the Queen of unpopular opinions of the 2014 Golden Globes.

Did you watch the show?  What did you think?

the Book Thief

I can't even begin to tell you.  I started reading the Book Thief after Christmas and finally finished it.  I've heard about it for months, probably years if I think hard about it, and I caved.  The movie is coming out, a couple close friends had read it, and I'm going to do my best right now to tell you what I thought without giving it away.

According to my iBooks, it's 476 pages.  If you're looking for a light and quick read, this isn't it.  For light and quick, read Regis' memoir.  The Book Thief is about a young girl in Nazi Germany, and it's narrated by Death.  Zusack writes it beautifully.  I just texted one of my friends that it was haunting and beautiful and emotional all at the same time.

While following a mostly linear plot, Death lets the audience in on a few secrets here and there, giving us sneaks of different endings.  I cried multiple times.  Anyways.

Throughout the story, we learn about the relationship between main character Liesel and her foster parents, the Hubermann's, Liesel and Rudy, and the part that Jewish man Max plays in their lives.

Everything I want to say about the Book Thief is essentially a spoiler.  I'm clearly really bad at book reviewing, so I figure it's good that that's not what I want to spend my life doing.  Here's what I have to say.  This book is beautiful.  The love that is displayed in this novel is heart-achingly written and able to be imagined.  To quote Death, "it makes my heart hurt".  The history of World War II is weaved through the characters' lives and laid on the pages.  Death speaks of it in numbers lost, and I'm just reminded again of what an event the Holocaust was.  I'm going to be done raving.  Just read it.

What have you been reading?  I'd love to hear.  Especially if it's so good you can't even gush properly.

Anchorman 2

I chose Baxter, because I love Baxter.

Earlier in the week, Nathan and I caught another pre-screen sponsered by 43kix - Anchorman 2.  I got the tickets through a drawing my University had and I was pumped.  I loved the first movie, and the second was just as good.  A few people behind me commented on how ridiculous it was, as if it was too ridiculous, but what did they expect?  Did they not remember the Pleasure Town bit from the first Anchorman?

A few spots in Anchorman 2 dragged a little, but for five minutes at the most.  If it dragged, it came back with the snappy one liners the first movie was known for and the audience was instantly laughing again.  What I loved the most was all of the little things that Nathan and I constantly pointed out to each other.  A side character in the back, or a facial expression that wasn't the focus of the shot.  It was hi-larious.

I'd already made plans to see Anchorman 2 on its release date, and I have zero issue with seeing it again.  At two and a half hours, it was a little long, and as I watched it, I was aware that it was long.  But to be honest, I didn't care.  It's like when you're at a sporting event - the whole time you're there, you're aware that time is moving on and it's getting later and later, but you don't care.  As I watched Anchorman 2, I didn't care.  I laughed my way through it, and was ready to watch it again.  Adam McKay and Will Ferrell outdid themselves.  Anchorman 2 was all I could hope for in the sequel.

Comment if you've seen it, or after you do!  I want to know what your favorite part was!
(Ummm, Kristen Wiig anyone?)

study time - post-it pen

Again, I'm in love.  Not for anything new that popped up, just for something I found in my pen jar that I fell in love with all over again.  My mom  got me this pen ages ago (I think it came from the auction or something), and I never really utilized it until now.

There are some variations of this pen that are highlighters (!!) but mine is just a pen, and I'm just fine with that.  I'm adding extra notes to my notebook and readings as I start to study, and having these flags right on the pen is fantastic.  I also love that I can differentiate because of the polka dots on the flags.  I flag things throughout the semester, so knowing which ones are most recently flagged is helping quite a bit.
You can get them here on Amazon.

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nathan and I were lucky enough to go see a pre-screening of "Inside Llewyn Davis," courtesy of Gofobo.  I'd heard a few things about the film, such as their luck at Cannes, but all I could ever remember was that it was a Cohen Bros. creation, Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, and did I mention Justin Timberlake?

Anyways. It was a beautiful movie. When it was over, and the credits had finished (I love staying for the credits, repercussion of having worked at a movie theatre), the first thing Nathan said to me was "that was beautiful". And it truly was a magnificent story.

I don't have enough familiarity with the body of work the Coen Brothers have created to definitively say I love them, but I loved this film. The acting, setting, filmography, writing, music - my God, the music! - it was all beautiful. It was one of the few films that took me through a single narrative and it was refreshing to have that. So many films spend a majority of the time wrapping up storylines that were started with side characters; while this film definitely left me wondering about the outcome of a few situations, it wasn't distracting. Most of all, it was realistic. I'm not about to classify this film as realism, no, I've spent too much time in film classes to be able to definitively say much, but it felt real, to me. I didn't feel manipulated into false feelings, and I didn't feel forced to sympathize with anyone and it was breathtaking the entire time.

It comes out on December 20th, and it is one that I highly, highly reccommend, especially if you're a fan of folk music. The Avett Brothers, Marcus Mumford, and Justin Timberlake all played parts in putting together the music of the film, and it is worth the expensive movie ticket to see.